Naruto and the Journey to the Village Hidden in the Mist
by nstar93
Summary: It started off as an innocent mission, take out a crime boss and keep walking. But something drew Miyuki Obanji to the Leaf ninjas and she wasn't the only one feeling the pull. Then ordered to protect Sasuke Uchiha from Orochimaru, Miyuki feels drawn to the Uchiha and quickly finds that not only are they connected through family experiences, but somewhat destined to be together...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Mission

"I hope you all understand the mission."

I felt my hands ball into tight fists at my sides as I stared at the ANBU uniform on the table before us. Seated behind the table sat our village's priestess, looking even more tired than usual. She was resting her head on hand, her eyes focused on my team, but then also threatening to close at any second. Her long speech about the mission had taken a toll on her, but she would not dismiss us until we said we understood the guidelines of our mission.

"Yes, Akane-sensei, we understand." My sensei, Megumi Fugimoto said as she bowed. The rest of my team followed suit, their expressions unreadable.

Akane nodded and motioned for us to pick up our costumes. Holding them close to our chests we all bowed again as Akane waved her hand, dismissing her. The nurses rushed to her side, helping her to her feet and leading her to the back of her small office, where they opened the sliding doors and disappeared into the next room.

Megumi turned around to smile down at us, her amber eyes kind as she took us all in.

"Get ready we have to get there before those Konoha ninjas get there." Megumi said.

We all turned, heading out of Akane's office while pulling on the long ANBU cape and then slipping on the ANBU mask.

Daisuke suddenly took off his mask and turned to face Megumi. "Is it true? What Akane said?"

Megumi looked down at him briefly before sliding the ANBU ask over her face. "What of it? You have concerns?"

"I'm just excited. I've heard all these stories about the Uchiha clan and today's the day I get to see if they measure up." Daisuke smiled.

I fought the twitching in my lip as I looked at Daisuke, seeing the excitement shining in his eyes. It was true the Uchiha clan were like legends in our village, put up on a pedestal that no other clan could ever hope to achieve. Then the massacre happened and the interest in the Uchiha clan had built overnight once the sadness passed. All eyes were on the surviving Uchiha member and here we were hours away from coming face to face with him.

"Hmph." Hideki mumbled.

"What's wrong with you?" Daisuke said elbowing our teammate. "You wanna fight him too?"

"I've heard more about the murderer than I have about this lone survivor. He can't be that great." Hideki grumbled as he fixed his sunglasses.

"I'll be the judge of that." Daisuke grinned as he pulled down his mask.

"I'm sure he's good." I piped up.

"If he makes one wrong move with Zabuza, he'll be dead." Hideki said. "If that happens he's just a waste of life."

…

We arrived at the village to find that the villagers were getting all riled up, pointing toward the bridge where a thick missed covered it. We raced to the bridge, praying that we weren't too late when we saw some red Chakra burst out of the mist, in the form of a fox. We stopped running in our tracks and looked back at Megumi who lifted her mask.

"That chakra…" Daisuke said through gritted teeth.

"What was that? What is that?" I asked, shivering. "This power…it's incredible."

"It's impossible for to control." Hideki said. "Feral."

"Keep moving." Megumi ordered as she lowered her mask.

We ran on picking up our speed, practically racing each other. When we reached the bridge, we focused our chakra to our hands and feet and climbed along the side of it. When we neared the top the scene had changed. The chakra had long faded and we came upon a grisly scene. There stood a spiky hair masked ninja from the Leaf village with his hand inside the chest of a Mist ninja. The Mist ninja's face was fixed into a painful expression, but there was also a quiet serenity to it too.

Zabuza stood a few steps away, completely blown away. The Leaf ninja was surprised too and he pulled his hand out of the Mist ninja's chest and we watched as the ninja hit the ground, dead.

"The dead one…his name is Haku." Megumi said. "He's Zabuza's right hand man."

"It looks like that ninja killed him." Daisuke mumbled.

"Surprise. My bet is that Haku jumped in the way." Hideki explained.

"How terrible." I mumbled.

Before we knew it Zabuza was ready to fight again and then Gato appeared, his men impaling Zabuza with their weapons. Gato went on, saying how Zabuza had shown how useless he was and Gato was ready to dispose of him when Megumi jumped onto the bridge, sending a kunai knife at Gato's feet.

The rest of us took that as a sign and we jumped onto the railing of the bridge looking at Gato as everyone else looked at us.

In that moment I could only imagine what everyone thought. Who were we? Where did we come from? The symbol on our masks let everyone know we were from the Mist Village and clearly our uniform screamed ANBU but judging by the white haired man's narrowed eyes, he knew something was up.

"I'd like to know who deemed you the disposer of people." Megumi said.

"Who are you all supposed to be?" Gato growled and then glared down at Zabuza. "These your minions? You think they can redeem you?"

"I work alone." Zabuza growled.

"Kakashi-sensei, who are those people?" A golden haired ninja with whisker markings on his face asked. He had big blue eyes and a determined look on his face just moments ago when he was lecturing an immovable Zabuza about the power of teamwork, but now he was flabbergasted by the sight of the new ninjas.

"We've been sent to put an end to you Gato and all your corrupted ways." Megumi said as she started toward Gato.

"Stay back!" Gato said, backing up into his crowd of gangsters.

"I don't think so." Megumi said as she started making hand signs. "Water Style! Water Dragon Jutsu!"

"WAIT!" Zabuza roared, just as Megumi's attack formed in the water.

"Let me-"

A series of sharp weapons were fired at Megumi as she turned to glance back at Zabuza. Daisuke made hand signs and took a deep breath. "Water Style! Raging Waves!" Daisuke knocked the weapons out of the way and even caught some of Gato's men in his attack, sending them flying back into the waves below. They screamed as they fell and the other men seemed to take a collective step back.

"Let me end him." Zabuza growled.

Megumi looked back at Gato and then back at Zabuza. "No offense, but you can barely stand."

"I…I am the Demon of the Hidden Mist." Zabuza grunted, pushing himself up onto the ground, his eyes wide, nearly bulging out from his sockets. "Do not underestimate me."

Megumi chuckled and then looked at Gato. "We'll see but if he so much as leaves this bridge, I'll have no problem ending you both."

Zabuza charged and if it wasn't for Megumi's transportation jutsu, she would've been knocked over. She appeared by our side and we looked down at her, when something caught my eye.

Two bodies in the distance, a pink haired girl was clutching the head of a boy on her lap. Tears were streaming down her face as she watched the fight ensue and though I knew that she was watching, it wasn't registering.

"You think that yellow haired kid is the Uchiha?" Daisuke asked.

"If he is, he's highly annoying." Hideki grumbled. "That speech…I've never been closer to punching someone in the face."

"He's nice." I scolded earning a shh from Megumi.

"Enough. Keep your eye on Gato. If he gets too far Miyuki, I want you to jump in." She instructed.

I nodded and watched as Zabuza took on Gato's men not with his arms, but his sharp teeth clutching his sword in his mouth. It was amazing to watch, the armless man taking them all on with a series of kicks and head-butts. Rising fear came over the remaining men and as some of them turned to run, so did Gato.

"Miyu-" Megumi began, but I was already on it.

I was in front of Gato in a heartbeat and he screeched to a stop a few feet away as I started to make hand signs.

"Water Style! Syrup Trap!" I spit out the sticky water just as Gato tripped onto it, his feet caught, his hands gripping the asphalt.

"What is this?!" He cried out just as Zabuza let out a vicious roar.

"I SAID STAY AWAY!" He roared as he charged into Gato and Megumi signaled for me to come back. I raced back just as Zabuza rammed into Gato, the kunai in his mouth cutting into his flesh. The attack, knocked Gato clean off the bridge and we heard his cry as he fell into the rushing water below.

"Dead?" Daisuke asked.

"Yes." Megumi said as she began to clap and Zabuza looked back at her. He was panting, tired, and sweaty. It was clear that his attacks had taken a toll on him and as he fell to his knees he called out to the white haired ninja.

"Kakashi! Take me…take me to…take me to Haku." He called.

"Kakashi!" Megumi gasped quietly and then looked away.

"You know him?" Daisuke asked.

"Kakahi Hatake? The infamous Copy Cat ninja? Remember he came to our village years ago." Hideki mumbled.

"That's the great Kakashi!?" Daisuke gasped, earning a light punch from Megumi.

"Keep quiet." She growled.

"What? Is no one shocked!? He doesn't look very impressive to me, nothing like what they say." Daisuke said, as Kakashi dragged Zabuza's body to Haku's.

"So you can say the same about the golden haired kid." Hideki said nodding toward the boy. "If he is a legendary Uchiha, we can't judge him based off of his dopey appearance."

Within minutes, Zabuza was dead and as all attention shifted over to us just as the bridge builder, Tazuna approached us.

"Mist ninja?" Tazuna asked, smiling. "You're a little late."

"We just got the word today." Megumi answered. "But I see that we don't have any need to be here."

"Little late? What are you going on about over there, old man?" The Blonde kid growled.

Tazuna turned to glare at the blonde kid. "You think you Leaf ninja were the only people I went to? I went to the Village Hidden under the Waterfall first."

"The Village of what?" The blonde kid asked.

"It's a small Village to the east of here, literally a village behind a waterfall. I hear it's a lush paradise in the spring." Kakashi said, patting the blonde kid on his shoulder.

"Yeah, well it's also famous for its great line of ninjas, ninjas who don't get as much credit that they deserve thanks to this Gato mess. They don't usually work though, the ninja there, their sole purpose is to protect their priestess and their village. The only time they come out of their little oasis-"

"Is when we have something to gain." Megumi finished, cutting off Tazuna.

"And exactly what did you four have to gain?" Kakashi asked, fixing his stare on Megumi.

She went rigid under his gaze and was silent. Tazuna took that moment to interject.

"Gato wasn't only terrorizing my village but also theirs. Because of their unique and almost hidden location, the Waterfall Village is hard to find and even on the most modern of maps is not on. The result is that the Waterfall Village is usually the last in the loop and is often called the Forgotten Village in most cases." Tazuna explained. "Gato used their location to host his drug dealing ring, and even though the village was crowded with thugs and bandits, our Hokage paid it all no mind, finding other things on his list of villages more important than the needs of the Waterfall Village."

"That's terrible." Blonde kid mumbled, his shimmering blue eyes looking at ma and my teammates who stood rigid behind our sensei.

"We took matters into own hands. Kicked out all the bandits when we got word of Tazuna's request. It took some time to for our priestess to pull together the necessary ninja, but in the end she gave the mission to my team and I." Megumi finished.

"What's so great about them?" Blonde kid piped up.

"These guys…they're the best the village has to offer, am I right? Are you three really the Elite Genin of the Waterfall Village?" Tazuna asked, smiling.

"Elite Genin?" Blond kid repeated looking us over.

"The Elite Genin, ninja with skills far beyond their level. They should be legendary ninja by now, they could be if they ever completed the exams. They're lead by a legendary ninja herself, the Raging Kunoichi of the Waves, the daughter of the village priestess." Tazuna said, sounding as if the four of us were a dream before them.

"Never heard of them." Blonde kid mumbled. "Is this guy serious, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Of course I am, Naruto!" Tazuna growled as the two of them glared at each other.

"Naruto?" Daisuke spoke up.

Naruto looked up at him as Daisuke pulled off his mask. Under the mask was the preteen face of a boy who was strong and confident. His skin was fair with firm brown eyes and bangs that at times blocked his vision. Megumi-sensei often told him to cut them off, saying how his bangs would be the death of him, but Daisuke would merely brush his bangs out of his eyes and smile, saying that his bangs were a part of him. Though, if a battle was getting too serious, Daisuke would pull his bangs back with a headband he wore around his neck, just above the Mist headband that hung there. He has a strong build to him, but he was also cocky, always boasting about his strength and acting tough, of course he had the skill to back it all up, but it was one of the many things Hideki always scolded him for. He wore a fitted burgundy shirt with the standard blue pants and blue sandals. His kunai holder was tied around his right leg and his shurikan pouch hung from his belt. He wore navy gloves on his hand and the metal on the top shone in the dim sunlight escaping from the behind the clouds.

"Yeah? Who are you?" Naruto asked.

Daisuke fixed his lips into a tight line and looked over to where the pink haired girl was now clutching the fallen ninja in her arms. He was alive, not dead.

"See…he's not so great." Hideki mumbled, following Daisuke's gaze as he too lifted his mask. He revealed a fair face with sunglasses covering his steel gray eyes. The thing about Hideki was that he was all business and nothing else. He was formal but he did have a cruel side if provoked. He wore a green turtleneck sweater under his ANBU robes with black pants. His kunai holder was on his right leg and his shurikan pouch was on his left side. His gloves weren't fingerless like mind and Daisuke's and they had the symbol of the Mist village on the metal part. His sandals were black as were mine.

"Well I'll be…" Daisuke mumbled and then looked at Hideki. "It depends how he went down."

Naruto looked over to the pink haired girl and smiled.

"He's okay! He's okay!" The pink girl cried, this time her tears filled with happiness.

"You should get the boy to a medic." Megumi said as she started to turn.

"We're leaving? Already?" Daisuke asked, stunned. "I didn't get a chance to talk to-"

"Talk to who? That wasn't our mission last I checked." Megumi said.

"It was to take out Gato and Zabuza after. But these Leaf ninja and Zabuza were kind enough to do that for us." Hideki said.

"Yeah but-" Daisuke mumbled.

"Please stay! Have a meal at my home. There's plenty of food and we have reason to celebrate. I apologize that you wasted your time coming here." Tazuna pleaded grabbing hold of Megumi's hand.

She looked down at him and I watched as Tazuna's grip tightened.

"That boy over there. He's hurt pretty bad. I saw his injuries myself. He needs a medical ninja, and the ones in this village aren't as skilled as the priestess' daughter is said to be. Please if you really are her, stay a while, I'll try to make it worth your while. I'll get right to cooking the best meal my family can offer in exchange for your services!" He was begging now, on his knees as tears formed in his eyes.

"Sensei." I said to Megumi. "We should stay, help these people."

Megumi seemed to take a deep breath and pulled her hand away from Tazuna's grip.

"Fine." She said, earning a smile from Tazuna.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Let Them In**

"He'll be fine." Megumi said as she cleaned her hands with the wet rag Tazuna gave her. "He just needs some rest."

"Thank you!" Tazuna said before Kakashi or Naruto could.

"Sensei, who are these ninja?" The pink haired girl with big green eyes asked. She was staring right at me and I touched my mask.

"These are Mist ninja, apparently." Kakashi said, studying Megumi's mask. If I didn't know any better, I assumed he could see right through it, or that he wanted to burn it just by looking at it.

_They're curious_, I realized. They want to see our faces.

"We just saved you're a-" Daisuke began, but was cut off by Megumi.

"We're done here." Megumi said as she turned to leave.

"Please stay! Have a meal with us! What if the boy falls ill during the night? What are we to do?" Tazuna asked, pleading once more.

"He's an Uchiha, he'll be fine." Hideki said. "If he gets sick that's a bit weak of him, don't you think?"

"Hey! Don't talk about him that way! Sasuke's plenty strong!" The pink haired girl said.

"He fought great out there! He went down protecting me anyway!" Naruto added angrily.

Daisuke scoffed. I touched his arm, shaking my head.

"It's the least we can do, to thank our guests for saving one of our own." Kakashi said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Megumi looked back at him and sighed heavily. "Fine. We'll stay. For dinner. Then we're gone."

"Wonderful! I'll go help my daughter in the kitchen! A fine meal we'll have, the finest we can manage!" Tazuna said, leaving us alone with the Leaf ninja.

"Is there a reason the girls have masks on?" Naruto grumbled.

"Oh well forgive my house manners." Megumi said, sarcastically, causing Naruto to flush.

Megumi removed her mask and I followed suit.

"Whoa…" Naruto said, his eyes wide as he stared at me. The pink haired girl, Sakura seemed to be holding her breath.

"Something wrong?" Megumi asked as she looked at me.

I shrugged as I pulled a strand of my black as night hair behind my ear. "No idea."

"Hmph…what's wrong with you? Look like you've seen a ghost." Megumi said fixing her look on Kakashi.

He really did. He had gone shades paler and was now staring at Megumi-sensei in such a way, he seemed frozen.

"Sensei?" Sakura asked, placing a hand on his arm, concern flashing on her face.

"You…" Kakashi managed, his eye growing wide.

Megumi smirked and moved past him. "You should focus on your students, White Fang."

"White Fang?" Naruto repeated looking up at Kakashi. "Is she talking about you, sensei?"

Daisuke, Hideki, and I followed after Megumi confused by Kakashi's comment.

"Sensei, what…what was that back there?" I asked.

"Nothing that concerns you three." Megumi said glancing back at me. "So don't worry about it. Once we get back to our village, we don't need to worry about those Leaf ninja anymore."

"You mean we're not waiting till that Uchiha wakes up?" Daisuke asked.

"Why so you can fight him?" Hideki asked.

"Of course!" Daisuke grinned. "I have to test him out, see if he's as big as they make him, remember?"

"Daisuke that's terrible. He's hurt real bad. Even when he recovers he won't be able to fight at his fullest." I scolded.

"He's an Uchiha. Uchiha don't care if they're hurt or not, they fight anyway."

"You act like you've written the books on them." Hideki mumbled.

"You act like you have one on speed dial." I added.

"Enough." Megumi said before Daisuke could defend himself. We reached the dining room of Tazuna's house and eased ourselves down onto the cushions. He served us tea while his grandson, Inari threw question after question at my teammates and I.

He was an excitable kid and it seemed to please his grandfather and mother. When Naruto entered the room, Inari seemed to forget all about us and started to drill Naruto who didn't mind at all.

Kakashi seemed to be watching Megumi from the corner of his eyes, while Megumi appeared bored while she stared out the window. Daisuke and Hideki were busy talking about some training aspect and a way to better it while Tazuna tried to offer Kakashi and Megumi sake. Sakura was watching me, I realized, somewhere between all of this. She sat beside Naruto, half listening to Inari while the other checked me out.

I wasn't sure what the problem was and I was pretty sure I hadn't rubbed anyone the wrong way. So I tried my best to shoot her small smiles every time I caught her looking. She'd smile back, but there was still an air if tension in that stare, no matter how hard I tried to stop it.

An hour later, dinner was almost ready and everyone seemed to warm up to each other somewhat. I sat up and made my way over to Tazuna's daughter.

"Is there a bathroom?" I asked.

"Yes, just upstairs, straight down the hall, you can't miss it." She smiled. "Hurry down for dinner, it'll be ready any minute now."

I nodded and headed out of the room, unnoticed by everyone. As I walked up the stairs and passed by the Uchiha boy's room, I wondered if he was alright. I knew Megumi's medical ninjutsu was the best our village had to offer and I remembered that people often healed quickly. Wondering if he was well enough to come down for dinner, I decided to take a quick peek inside the room.

I pulled the sliding door back and walked into the room. There lay Sasuke still wrapped in the blanket, appearing sound asleep. I had to admit he was pretty good to look at. Fair skin, black chin length hair and a strong build, I could tell even though his body was covered.

He seemed alright, I guess. Nothing had changed since we arrived. I turned and headed out of the room when I heard something behind me. I swung around and saw that Sasuke was pushed up on his elbows and his eyes scanned the room. Then they landed on me and I forced a small smile.

"You're awake."

He just stared, his onyx eyes cold. "Where am I?"

"In Tazuna's house." I said.

"Where's Naruto? Sakura?" He looked around and seemed a little fearful.

"They're fine. Downstairs. Dinner's almost ready." I said. "Are you feeling okay? Need something? Water, maybe?"

Sasuke looked away. "Who are you?"

"Me? Oh, sorry. I'm Miyuki. Miyuki Obanji."

He said nothing, but slowly brought himself back down onto the bed.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"Fine."

"Good…I guess. Umm, did you want anything? Should I tell them to bring you something to eat?"

"What happened to Zabuza and Haku?"

"Dead." I said. That earned me a look.

"Your sense, Kakashi, he killed Haku. He said it was an accident, that Haku jumped in the way. Zabuza went out and took Gato with him. So I guess that means this village is safe. Your mission is complete."

"Why are you here?" He asked.

"Me? Our mission…was to take out Zabuza and Gato…well that's all I can really say."

"Mist ninja." Sasuke said, observing the headband tied on my left arm.

I nodded. "Waterfall Village to be exact."

"Never heard of it." Sasuke mumbled.

"There's another village by the same name, but ours came before it. Ours is so small though, it's not really on any map, unlike the other one." I explained, not really sure why I was suddenly giving a geography lesson. It was clear Sasuke couldn't care less about anything I had to say. He was in his own world.

"I thought you were dead." I said.

He glanced at me.

"Well, my teammate, Daisuke, he was a little disappointed. We've heard so much about the Uchiha in our village…he was excited when he found out he might get the chance to meet one."

Sasuke fixed his stare on the ceiling.

"Then we saw you lying there…that girl, Sakura? She was crying…we really thought you…but you're alive and well. My sensei made sure to that, Tazuna begged her. She made it so that you'll heal faster. It might hurt now, but I'm pretty sure in a couple of days you'll be good as-"

Sasuke had closed his eyes between all this and as my sentence was winding down, coming to a close, I realized that he was asleep, again.

I bit my bottom lip as I backed away, telling myself to give him some space. As I shut the door, I wondered exactly what I had been babbling on about. I was nervous, I realized, but why? I placed a hand over my heart to find that it was beating quickly in my chest.

I didn't know what to say. I just opened my mouth and started saying the first things that popped into my head. I had wanted a reaction out of him, wanted him to just come to life and engage me. Daisuke wasn't the only one looking forward to meeting an Uchiha, I was no better. I went to the bathroom to wash my hands before dinner and as I passed by Sasuke's door, I fought the urge to open it again. Lord knew what was going to come pouring out of my mouth if I did.

…

In the middle of the night a storm picked up outside. It was violent complete with lightning and pounding rain. Snuggled under my covers, I shivered at every crack of thunder and finally realized I couldn't sleep. I had been uneasy all through dinner and knew by now that it was a feeling that something bad was coming, something bad was going to happen. I crawled out of bed and decided to go down to Tazuna's porch where I sat down and watched the rain hit the Earth.

I wasn't sure how long I had been sitting there or even realized how deep in thought I was. The sliding door opened and then there was a pause. I looked up only to see Sasuke standing there looking down at me.

"I see that you're up and walking." I smiled, figuring I still had to play the nice game with him. He didn't smile or say anything and seemed to be torn between turning back or staying.

"Sorry. Am I like intruding your space, or something?" I asked standing up.

"No." He mumbled coolly and then sighed as he sat down in the door frame.

"Okay…" I mumbled and leaned against the side of the house.

We were silent for a few moments, just watching the rain fall. I kept stealing glances at him, studying his cold profile.

"Feeling better?" I asked.

"Fine."

"Good."

He looked at me then studying my smile before turning back to look at the rain.

"I think I'm a little star struck." I laughed lightly. He glanced at me. "It's not every day that you meet an Uchiha, you know?"

"Hmph." Sasuke muttered.

"You have a cool team." I smiled. "Naruto's…certainly expressive. Sakura is protective, well more for you than Naruto. But he doesn't need to be protected. I think he's going to grow up to be super strong."

It was true. Naruto wasn't afraid to shoot out his opinion and though that might make him look more like a brazen idiot, I thought it was something he should be admired for. It took a lot of courage to back up his talk and his whole never giving up model I felt backed it completely.

"Naruto's an idiot." Sasuke muttered. "Sakura's no better."

I looked at him and smiled softly. "I guess no one can really measure up to an Uchiah, I understand."

He said nothing and once again we lapsed into silence.

"What are you doing up?" I asked.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Yeah, same here." I said scratching my head and slid to the floor. After a few moments, I started to pull at one of two pigtails. I loosened both of them, running my fingers through my hair which fanned out behind me. As I was pulling the whole thing into a chignon I caught sight of Sasuke watching me.

"Yeah my hair's pretty long. Sensei says I should cut it, but I just can't you know. My mom didn't cut her hair, like ever. I remember…it was so long…I used to love playing with it. I always used to tell her that I wanted to braid it, but I'd get tired once I reached her shoulders." I smiled softly at the memory. "Then I taught my little sisters to braid and we would try together, but we'd never get very far."

"What happened to her." Sasuke mumbled.

"Who my mom? Oh…well…she died." I said.

He looked at me, studying my face.

"But it's nothing like uhh, you…you know? The body count if you compare them, you had it worse…" I stopped myself once he looked away and hugged my knees.

"Sorry."

"It's fine." Sasuke mumbled.

I nodded. "Can I say something else?"

He didn't say anything and I leaned closer to him. He glanced at me.

"Well…I know how you feel and I'm pretty sure you don't wanna hear that and you've heard it all before and stuff, but…things get better you know? I met my teammates and sensei and it did. You can't through life hating everything and everyone. You have to let people in, that's what makes you stronger."

He rose to his feet, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Sorry." I said and he looked at me.

"I just…I just feel like I…like I should share my experience with you…we're the same you and me…kind of…"

He said nothing to me and instead turned, heading back inside the house slamming the door. I stayed outside a few minutes more, wondering if I had said anything wrong, but quickly discovered that I hadn't. I had said what I felt and if I had offended him…no it wasn't that…if I had offended him Sasuke didn't strike me as a person who would merely walk away.

When we left the next day, it was early. Before the crack of dawn, as some would say. Megumi made sure to thank Tazuna profusely and when asked if we wanted to say goodbye to the Leaf ninja, she declined much to Daisuke's displeasure. But as we left the Leaf ninja behind as we walked along the dirt path to our own hidden village, I couldn't help but feel that we would see them again.


	3. Chapter 3

****Okay so it's super long, I'm sorry but hope you enjoy! Also I'm doing this all through memory and I refused to go back and get everything they said word for word****

**Chapter 3: The Chuunin Exams! Orochimaru's Threat!**

There wasn't a day that I didn't wake with screams ringing in my ears. I had grown used to it, unable to imagine waking up any other way. But on this particular day, exactly a week after we had left the Leaf ninjas, I woke to the sound of someone pounding on my door.

Stumbling out of bed, I nearly hit the floor and struggled to make it to the door while rubbing my eyes. It wasn't an easy feat, but somehow I managed.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming." I mumbled as I swung the door open and came face to face with my teammates.

"Wha-"

"Get dressed." Hideki cut me off.

"Now." Daisuke added.

"Why-"

"Priestess Akane summoned us to her office. It seems pretty important." Daisuke said, clearly pumped and excited about it.

I yawned. "About what?"

"We don't know. But it does sound big. Megumi-sensei is even a little on edge about it." Hideki said.

"I bet it's a rogue ninja in the area. We can take them out, hopefully he's someone entertaining and big…nice and vicious…deadly too." Daisuke laughed. "The more violent and life-threatening, the more fun the fight."

"Okay…" I yawned again turning back toward my bed.

"Don't go back to sleep, Miyuki." Hideki said.

"Yeah, Miyu." Daisuke said. "Get dressed and hurry it up."

"Go on without me…I'll catch up." I said as I touched my sheets.

"Hmph…" Hideki mumbled. "Let's just go. When sensei comes for her, it'll be her problem."

"Right." Daisuke said. They left then and I fought a groan. They were right. If Megumi really was as tense as they made her sound…she would kick down my bed and probably fill my room with water…again.

I sighed and got dressed, pulling on my navy crop top and fishnet shorts along with my black shorts over them. I slipped into my sandals and then slid into my belt. After another hearty yawn, I washed my face and pulled my hair into a tight ponytail, unable to make my two usual ponytails and even comb my hair for that matter.

I reached Akane's office fifteen minutes later and judging by the looks on everyone's face, I hadn't missed much. Akane sat at her desk with her nurses beside her. She didn't look as close to death as she normally did, but I could see something in her eyes. _Fear_? What did she have to fear? Was it a personal threat to the village? Did Gato's underlings want to exact revenge?

"Thank you for joining us, Miyuki." Akane said quietly.

I laughed lightly, earning a glare from Megumi and then felt it lodge in my throat.

"Sorry, priestess." I said bowing quickly.

"I wanted to give you four a very important mission. Our intel has recently spotted Orochimaru around the Leaf Village area."

"Orochimaru?" Daisuke growled, his hands instantly balling into tight fists. I felt my body go tense as Hideki held his breath. Megumi watched us carefully.

"Yes…I've also received word that he plans on making his move during the Chuunin Exams. The exams will be held in Konoha this year and while our nation has already sent out its candidates, I have decided to enroll you three in the exam as well."

"For what?" Hideki asked.

Akane looked at him. "Because I feel it is our personal duty to call him out if we see him. After all he has done to our village in the past, I assumed you three would fight for the chance to get at him."

"Of course we would." Daisuke growled.

"He might have multiple attack plans, multiple targets…but I'd keep an extra eye on that Uchiha." Akane mumbled. "Orochimaru wants a lot of things and he has always wanted the Uchiha power."

"He can handle himself." Daisuke growled.

"Maybe…maybe not. He's still young. He's not as strong as Itachi was at his age, I'm sure even he knows that." Akane said.

"What else?" Megumi asked.

"Intel won't say. They're unsure. Orochimaru most likely has spies as well in that village and there is a rumor he has sided with a village, though it is unclear which one that might be. Either way, any information you three can get is extremely useful. I wish to be allies with the Leaf…I believe they can serve us well and we'd make good allies with them." Akane said smoothly.

"They're also a large nation." Megumi mumbled. "That can help protect us far better than our own nation."

"You want to become one with the Leaf?" Hideki asked.

"I don't want to do anything with them. But I feel like we have to redeem ourselves for what happened all those years ago…the Itachi incident." Akane said.

"Yes but…that wasn't our fault. The message didn't reach us until months after he was declared a rogue ninja." Megumi said.

Akane nodded. "Yes…true…that's all very true…but, it bothers me and I feel like they hold it against us. I want our village to be seen as a place of respect to all the other nations. It's bad enough our own nation fails to acknowledge us…I just want them to know that we're on their side."

"But it's more than that." Daisuke said. "Right?"

"Orochimaru wronged us years ago. I'll do anything I can to stop him and who better to exact that vengeance than you three?" Akane asked.

We nodded in agreement.

"So we're enrolled in the exams?" I asked.

Akane nodded.

"Our mission is to listen out for Orochimaru?" Hideki asked.

Akane nodded.

"And watch that Uchiha kid?" Daisuke mumbled. "Not that he needs it."

"But he might and yes." Akane said.

"This is like a repeat of the last time." Hideki grumbled. "Are we at least allowed to make it to the finale?"

"No." Akane said.

"WHAT!? What if that Uchiha is there?!" Daisuke growled. "That might be the only time I get to fight him!"

"That's not the mission. If Orochimaru doesn't make a move by the finale, it's the Leaf's problem. I won't put our visit at risk all that time." Akane said.

"But what if he strikes at the finale?" I asked.

Akane shook her head. "That's their problem."

"Harsh." Hideki said.

"Ugh!" Daisuke groaned. "No fair. None of this is fair!"

"There's no need to show off your skills you'll get your chance to do that during the preliminary rounds." Akane said.

"Yeah but-" Daisuke began but was cut off by Megumi.

"Later, Daisuke. You can fight the Uchiha boy later. Now is not the time." Megumi grumbled.

Daisuke folded his arms, clearly still upset while Hideki and I exchanged a look.

"Fine." Hideki said after a few moments. "We accept. When do we leave?"

…

We started out a week later and arrived at the end of it. As we came closer to the Leaf's gates, we started to collect our documents as Megumi read all the villages participating in the exams.

"Sound Village? Never heard of it." Megumi grumbled.

"_Sounds_ like the first group of ninjas we have to search for." Daisuke grinned, happy with his weak pun.

I giggled and Hideki sighed.

"Idiot." He mumbled.

"What? It was funny!" Daisuke said as he crossed his arms. "I wonder if those Leaf ninja are even participating."

"Of course they are. The Uchiha is there. It would be an insult not to include him, at least that's what I feel your argument would be." Hideki said.

"Yeah but those other two…uhh, what were their names again?" Daisuke looked back at me.

"Sakura and Naruto." I said.

"Yeah _those_ two…" Daisuke laughed lightly. "Sakura's good for nothing else other than…talking and crying. Naruto…he's…he's…he's just…"

"Special." I finished.

"Yeah if that's what you want to call him." Daisuke shrugged. "Whatever works."

"Naruto's great." I said.

"Yeah right…if you wanna call that reckless idiot 'great' it's totally up to you." Daisuke said.

"That reminds me. We never asked that Kakashi guy about that chakra shaped fox thing." I said, looking up at Megumi.

"Not my problem." Megumi said as she folded up the village list and shoved it onto her pocket, we reached the checkpoint and pulled out our papers.

"Yeah that was pretty weird and super powerful. I didn't even know it was possible to have that much chakra." Daisuke said.

"Ehh…" Hideki said.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I believe it is possible. But that chakra, it was uncontrollable. Didn't you sense it? If anymore seeped out, it would have been devastating. That much power…if it's not controlled…it's deadly." Hideki said.

"I'll be here a while you three. Why don't you go and have a look around?" Megumi said.

"Okay." Daisuke said as he started walking off, his hands in his pockets.

"Maybe it was Uchiha." I said with a smile.

"Hmph…that only makes me want to fight him even more." Daisuke smiled.

"You and your fighting…that all you think about?" Hideki grumbled.

"Hey! I didn't bring it up this time! It was all Miyuki!" Daisuke said, lightly shoving Hideki.

"Whatever, same thing. Don't forget the mission." Hideki said.

"Where are we going anyway?" I asked.

"I'm kind of hungry." Daisuke grumbled. "I could go for some ramen."

"You're always hungry." I laughed.

"I wonder who else is in the exams." Hideki said, thinking out loud.

"Weaklings…all of them." Daisuke said. "We can take them all and kill them too."

"Let's not get graphic." Hideki mumbled. "The only one I want to slay are Orochimaru and the stupid village that decided to join him."

"Hey…what's happening up there?" I asked, nodding up an alleyway. "Is that…is that Naruto?"

"Where there's a Naruto, there's an Uchiha, right?" Daisuke smiled. "Looks like we can get started on our mission a little early."

"Who are they with?" I asked squinting.

"Sand Genin." Hideki said. "They look familiar…though…"

"Wait…is that…is that…Temari!?" I gasped before a smile formed on my lips. It was Temari. I could recognize that metal fan anywhere. Temari and Kankuro two Sand Genin who happened to be a whole year older than us. We had met their squad before, just a few years ago the first time my team entered the exams. We had all made it to the finale, both of us working on a co-op mission against our villages. We never got the chance to fight with them, but we had grown on each other. Their teammate, Kankuro's brother, Gaara was known to be brutal, but I was probably the only person who could keep him in the calm. It was hard to explain but even though everyone else was scared of him, I never feared him. I even liked to think of us as friends. He was like my older brother in a way, even though he probably would never commit to it.

"Temari!" I shouted happily, waving my hand in the air as I ran toward them. The group spun around and I saw Naruto and Sakura's eyes light up and then fill with fear as they stared between Temari and me.

"Miyuki?" Temari said as she folded her arms. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm in the Chunin exams!" I smiled waving my hand in the air.

"Making it to the finale this time, squirt?" Kankuro said a ghost of a smile on his face.

"Of course! We're going all the way!" I giggled.

"Yeah, so get ready to get your butts handed to you. We're gonna ship you three back to your little Sand Village." Daisuke grinned.

"You're as confident as ever." Temari mumbled, narrowing her eyes at him, while Daisuke beamed.

"Given our competition we can't afford to be weak." Hideki said before looking around. "What's going on here?"

"I was just about to…uhh…err…" Kankuro looked up in a tree and I followed his gaze and saw Gaara standing on a tree branch upside down. Sasuke was also on the other side and seemed a bit uneasy.

"I see you guys met Naruto and his group." I smiled.

"That's what these clowns are called?" Kankuro chuckled.

"Clowns! You're the one who looks like a clown with that face paint!" Naruto growled.

"Naruto! Shut up!" Sakura hissed, elbowing Naruto on the head. He groaned in pain, holding his head as his eyes watered from the pain.

"You friends with these losers?" Kankuro asked.

"I like to think so." I smiled.

"They're not losers, if you haven't noticed." Daisuke said, nodding toward Sasuke. "They happen to have an Uchiha on the team."

"Uchiha…wow…big deal." Kankuro said.

"WHAT!? It is a big deal! Haven't you heard about that clan?" Daisuke asked, clearly ready to start educating Kankuro on the spot about the Uchiha's greatness.

"Yeah…I don't care." Kankuro said lifting one of his gloved hands which was ripped slightly and a little bloodied.

"HI GAARA!" I shouted waving maniacally at him.

"Hmph…" Gaara looked away and I smiled.

"It's nice to see you too!" I shouted, again.

"I think he's totally ignoring you." Daisuke mumbled.

"He is a bit anti-social." Hideki said.

Temari and Kankuro gave a nervous laugh and then Gaara appeared in front of Temari and Kankuro.

"I don't have time for this." Gaara grumbled, crossing his arms. "Temari, Kankuro let's go." They started to walk away when Sakura stepped after them.

"Hey! HEY! I know by your headbands that you come from the Sand Village and I know that we're allies, but we're also not allowed to enter each other's villages without permission. So…state your purpose!" Sakura said, her voice wavering slightly toward the end.

"WHAT!? YOU…you don't know!?" Daisuke screeched.

Sakura looked at him.

"That means Uchiha isn't in the game." Hideki said.

"What game? And what's a Chunin Exam?" Naruto asked.

"Well pinky, that's why we're here. We are from the Sand Village and because we're here for these exams we have permission thank you very much." Temari said.

Sakura flushed and I stepped forward.

"Hey what were you guys doing anyway? Were you being mean again, Kankuro?" I called.

"Stay out of it, Miyuki." Gaara called over his shoulder before Sasuke appeared beside me.

"Hey you! Identify yourself." He called.

The Sand ninja stopped and Temari swung around, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Who me?" she squealed.

"No, the guy with the gourd on his back." Sasuke said, his hands in tight fists at his sides.

Gaara turned around, his eyes darker than usual. "My name is Gaara of the Sand. I'm curious about you too…who are you?"

Sasuke smirked. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted jumping in front of Sasuke. "Bet you're dying to know my name, right?"

"I couldn't care less." Gaara said before he started walking again and disappeared with the passing breeze at the corner.

"It's okay, boss." A young boy with missing front teeth and spiky brown hair said as he consoled a sad Naruto.

"Everyone always wants to know Sasuke...it's always about Sasuke…" Naruto sobbed.

"Chunin Exams…" Sakura said as she tapped her chin. "The exams every Genin has to take in order to become a Chunin?"

"Yup." I nodded.

"How do you three know that guy?" Sasuke asked, his eyes focused on me.

"We've done missions with them in the past." Daisuke answered. "They're okay."

"Yes but deadly. If you pick a fight with them you better be ready for the worst case scenario." Hideki said.

"Worst case scenario?" Naruto repeated, recovering from Gaara's blow to his pride.

"Death." Hideki said. "Gaara can kill people without flinching."

"Oh don't scare them!" I said when I saw Sakura and Naruto get pale. "Gaara's not _that_ bad."

"You don't see it because you see the good in people." Daisuke grumbled. "You're also just too damn innocent."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, stomping my foot.

"What happened here anyway?" Hideki asked. "You don't just bump into the Sand ninja to say hi."

"They were picking on my friend." Naruto said motioning down to the spiky haired boy and his two friends.

"Hi!" I waved, smiling. The spiky haired boy blushed and so did the one with glasses who looked a little sickly.

"Hi!" The girl with two stiff pigtails chimed, her eyes sparkling as she gazed up at me. "You're so pretty!"

I laughed nervously as Daisuke rolled his eyes.

"Don't make her head swell." He said.

"Like it ever does." Hideki added. "Anyway, weren't you hungry?"

Daisuke grabbed his suddenly rumbling stomach and sighed. "Yeah…hey where's the nearest ramen shop?"

"RAMEN!? You want RAMEN?!" Naruto shouted.

"Yeah…something…wrong…why are you looking at me like that?" Daisuke asked, clearly creeped out by Naruto's expression.

Naruto's blue eyes were wide and shining; his hands were folded tightly as he eagerly leaned closer and closer to Daisuke, who continued to back away. It seemed that every step he took back, the closer Naruto got.

"I love ramen! I know the best spot in town!" Naruto cheered.

"Okay…" Daisuke said.

"Here we go…" Sakura groaned.

"Oh wait…but hey, Miyuki. I had a question." Naruto said, regaining himself.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"The Chunin Exams? How do we apply?"

"Interested?" Daisuke grinned.

Naruto flushed slightly and nodded. "Yeah" He said as he adjusted his headband. "I just…I just wanna fight those Sand ninja."

"Don't mess with them." Hideki said.

"Well, in all honesty, you can't really apply, your sensei has to sign you up and stuff. A bunch of paper work. Ultimately you have to sign a form of liability and stuff, that says you'll take part in the exam, but that's it. It's your sensei's decision for consideration." I explained.

"If you ask me…you three should definitely join." Daisuke said.

"It's not just because the Uchiha is in their group?" Hideki mumbled and Daisuke blushed.

"Well it's not your decision, Daisuke." I said, putting my hands on my hips. "It's their sensei's choice."

Daisuke stood, his mouth open. "I-I didn't even say anything!?"

"You implied it." I said as I started to walk away.

"WHAT!?" Daisuke growled chasing after me to protest.

"Naruto. That ramen shop. Will you two, Sakura and Sasuke join us?" Hideki asked, forcing Daisuke and me to stop in our tracks.

"Yeah you both should!" I called.

"Yeah! I'll lead the way!" Naruto said, taking the lead.

"I guess so…it has been a while since we last spoke to you guys." Sakura smiled and then looked back at Sasuke. "Are you coming?"

"Hmph…"Sasuke said, taking a step back.

"Oh you must be hungry!" Daisuke called. "We might even share a few stories about that Gaara kid if you play your cards right."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but started after us.

"Nice." Hideki whispered.

"Right on mission." Daisuke beamed. "But I can tell he's going to be a problem."

"Problem?" I repeated.

"He clearly likes the whole loner route. Someone needs to stay on him, win him over." Daisuke said.

"Who would that be?" I asked.

"You." Hideki said. "We nominate you."

"Me?" I blushed, glancing back at Sasuke. "He hates me." I mumbled, thinking back to our time in the Mist village and our conversation on the porch.

"He doesn't hate you…no one could ever hate you." Daisuke whispered. "If Gaara can warm up to you and not attempt to kill you, you can handle an Uchiha."

"You're the best candidate for it, really." Hideki whispered. "Enough said. I'm sure Megumi-sensei was going to say the same."

I blushed and looked away, unable to formulate a response. Me watch the Sasuke kid? I couldn't even figure out how to get close to him without him thinking I was stalking him or something. Or maybe that was what the job was…

"It doesn't sound like I have much of a choice." I muttered.

"You really don't." Daisuke beamed and looked back at our Leaf Genin. "So you guys really never heard about the Chunin exams?"

"Boss, they're the exams every Genin has to take to be a Chunin." The spiky haired boy said. "You were supposed to learn that at the Academy."

"Huh? Oh yeah! I knew that." Naruto insisted, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"Sure you did…loser…" Sasuke muttered.

"Sasuke!" Naruto growled.

"Naruto, knock it off will you?" Sakura said. "Just leave Sasuke alone."

"What?! But Sakura!" Naruto whined.

"I said can it!" Sakura hissed as she punched the back of his head.

"OWW!" Naruto said as he rubbed the bump.

"Pretty rough crowd." Daisuke observed.

"I think they're funny." I smiled.

"What do you three know about Gaara?" I nearly jumped as I looked over and found Sasuke walking alongside me while Sakura and Naruto bickered behind us.

"Hey we don't even have lunch yet, buddy. Story time can wait." Daisuke chuckled.

"Hmph…" Sasuke muttered, eyeing Daisuke carefully.

"So uhh, Miyuki!" Sakura skipped in front of me, walking backwards.

"Oh hey Sakura, what's up?" I smiled.

"So like what products do you use in your hair? It's soo shiny!" Sakura smiled, her eyes glistening. "It looks so soft too!"

"What do you put on your face too? It looks pretty soft too!" The little pig-tailed girl squealed, determination shining in her expression.

I ran my fingers through my hair and shrugged. "I don't do anything really."

"Here we are!" Naruto grinned motioning to the ramen shop. He grinned back at us. "Best spot in town!"


	4. Chapter 4

****Author's note: Spelling Errors? Probably a ton lol Hopefully it can all be overlooked and you can all enjoy the story. Review please and enjoy!****

**Chapter 4: Nominated**

Daisuke was on his third bowl of ramen, while Naruto had worked his way to his fifth. Sakura looked queasy watching them and Hideki was busy shifting the contents in his bowl around. Sasuke hadn't touched his bowl and I was sitting beside him, carefully eating mine as I observed everyone.

"You weren't kidding, Naruto." Daisuke grinned as he finished his bowl. "This ramen is amazing."

"See…" Naruto said between slurps. "Told you guys!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick watching you eat." Sakura mumbled. "That much ramen is not healthy for anyone." Sakura mumbled.

"Huh? Did you say something, Sakura?" Naruto asked, ramen residue on his lips. Sakura's temple started to throb as she glared at Naruto.

"Clean your face before talking to me will you?!" Sakura growled.

"Huh?" Naruto furiously wiped a napkin over his mouth as the old ramen guy set two more bowls on the counter for Daisuke and Naruto.

"These two are on the house." The old man said with a wink. Naruto and Daisuke's eyes sparkled before they broke out into a cheer, eagerly reaching over for the bowls.

"Oh Lord." Hideki grumbled.

"You and me both." Sakura sighed. "Have to put up with that idiot all day."

"I've had to deal with him all my life." Hideki said.

I smiled and from the corner of my eye found that Sasuke was staring at me. I felt myself flush and instantly struggled to hide my face. What was I supposed to say to him? It was true Gaara had been the same way when we first met, well kind of. But Gaara was different. There was something in Sasuke's eye that let me know that and it made me uneasy.

"So you want to know about Gaara?" Daisuke asked, speaking down to Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes shifted from me, down to Daisuke.

"He's brutal." Daisuke slurped.

"Brutal is only half of it." Hideki said.

"He has this crazy power too, like insane power." Daisuke said. "The body count that kid has, it's insane…more than us, right?"

"Body count?" Naruto said.

"Wait, what?" Sakura gasped.

"What kind of power?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah…Gaara's insane." Hideki said.

"Insane?" Naruto swallowed.

"He's not insane." I said. "He is strong, very strong, but that's it."

"If you say so." Daisuke said and then rolled his eyes. "Someone doesn't see how crazy that kid can get in battle. Always talking about blood and gore and stuff and the things he does to people, I swear."

I held my breath. "Daisuke!"

"Fine, I take it back. But that doesn't mean that it's not all true." He added.

I glared at him.

"Wait…body count…" Naruto mumbled.

"He's killed people." Hideki said and looked down at him. "Isn't it obvious from the word?"

"He's…killed." Sakura swallowed, her green eyes wide as she looked down at her ramen bowl.

"Yeah, well it's part of being a ninja, you know. Sometimes you gotta kill people." Daisuke shrugged.

"You said more than you guys." Naruto pressed.

"Yeah because we've killed to." Daisuke said.

"We had no choice." Hideki said.

I nodded, but felt the sudden tension at the table. It was then that I realized even though we were all the same age, Naruto and Sakura had never seen death until Zabuza and Haku. Meanwhile, when it came to my team and I we were used to it. We were used to being sent on life or death missions and getting severely injured one mission and causing severe injury to the others.

I glanced at Sasuke and found that he was completely blank faced. It clearly didn't affect him the way it did the other two. It was almost as if we had never said the word at all, as if we had been talking about the quality of the meal in front of us. No big deal.

I stiffened in my seat and closed my eyes, trying to calm my racing heart. I could hear the screams again, the sounds scrambling around my head. Horrifying sounds, enough to make my skin crawl.

"Miyuki?" Hideki placed a hand on my shoulder and my eyes snapped open.

"Hey Miyuki? Are you okay?" Sakura asked. "You look so pale now."

"I'm-I'm fine." I swallowed again, laughing nervously.

"Maybe we should go." Hideki said. "Sensei might be looking for us."

"Aww man!" Naruto said.

"But you've barely said anything about Gaara." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, I guess so." Daisuke shrugged as we stood up. "Listen man, don't mess with him. Messing with Gaara especially when you have the ability to actually harm him will only end with your body in a casket."

"The more excited Gaara gets the more his blood thirst grows." Hideki said. "Worthy opponents bring out the worst in him."

"I mean as long as you fight me you can go and kill yourself after if you want." Daisuke grinned. "So for now do yourselves a favor and stay away."

…

"And he's not even in it!" Daisuke grumbled.

"Really…fascinating…" Megumi was busy filing her nails, clearly not giving Daisuke's complaints any real attention.

"Is he still talking about that nonsense?" Hideki mumbled as he flipped the page of a book he was reading.

I was sitting by the window, busy braiding my hair and stifled a giggle. Daisuke was sitting at the table, his face in his hands, lamenting the great loss the exams were having because Uchiha wasn't even in them.

"And then he's dreaming about fighting Gaara…fat chance. I have to test him before he can face Gaara." Daisuke said, crossing his arms.

"Hmm…" Megumi stopped filing her nails and glanced over at us. "The Sand ninja are here, huh?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Hideki said.

"Nothing. Just watch them."

"What if they're here for the same mission and suspect us?" I asked.

"I doubt it." Megumi yawned. "It's just not a mission they would find interesting. But they're definitely seedy enough to work for Orochimaru."

"Tell that to Miyuki." Hideki said, nodding to me. "Gaara does no wrong in her eyes."

"Well I'm not gonna say he wouldn't do it…but Gaara doesn't know about us or what we've been through…" I hugged my knees to my chest. "I'm sure if he knew he wouldn't—"

"Or he wouldn't kill you…but he'd kill Hideki and me." Daisuke nodded.

"Just watch them, but don't make it your priority." Megumi said. She stood up and headed for the door. "I'm going to bed. I suggest you three do the same."

"Sensei." I said. Megumi paused and then turned slightly.

"Everyone took the liberty of nominating me to watch that Sasuke kid, but I wanted to hear from you better." I said, my cheeks burning red. "Who do you think is better suited?"

"Looking for a way out?" Hideki chuckled dryly.

"I say…you're the best suited." Megumi said. "If it came down to it, Miyuki, could you kill Gaara or Temari or even Kankuro? I have no doubt that if it really came down to it, you could, but…Daisuke and Hideki…leave the hard stuff to them, okay?

"Yeah, all you gotta do is like make him totally love you." Daisuke smirked. "That should be easy. He only talks to you, or have you not noticed that?"

I flushed and balled my hands into tight fists at my sides. "No way!"

"Yes way!" Daisuke said.

"You such an idiot!" I hissed. I picked up my hairbrush and tossed it at Daisuke who narrowly missed as he dodged.

"Just do your jobs." Megumi said before slamming the door shut, her footsteps fading down the hall.

I sighed and opened the window.

"Out for a walk?" Hideki called.

"I need some air." I growled as I slipped out, landing swiftly and silently down below.

I wasn't sure where I was going, or what I was doing. Was I really mad at Daisuke? Or was I angry with myself? How could I get close to Uchiha when everything I said seemed to bother or annoy him? It seemed impossible to please him.

"Hey Miyuki! What are you doing here?"

I looked back. I had been walking for a while, I knew that much. As I looked up and then around I realized that I had no idea where I was.

"Naruto. Hey." I smiled, giving a small wave. "Just walking."

Naruto, sweaty and dirty walked up to my side, smiling big. "Guess what!"

"What?"

"We're in. Kakashi-sensei said he nominated us for the exams."

"Oh Naruto, that's awesome."

"Yup." He wore a big cheesy grin on his face and I couldn't help but laugh lightly.

"You're really excited, aren't you?"

"Huh, oh well yeah." Naruto's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "I'm just…everyone's always all about Sasuke. And there can only be like one winner, you know. It means I finally get my chance…"

"Chance?" I repeated, confused.

"My chance to fight him. My chance to prove that he's not as big as he makes himself seem." Naruto said, his hands in tight fists at his sides.

"Sounds like…you and Sasuke…are rivals." I said.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know…I guess."

I smiled. "Well Naruto, you are better than him."

Naruto looked at me. "Miyuki…"

"But I don't think you need someone to tell you that. You already know you're good and that all you can do is get better. I think one day…even Sasuke is going to have to admit it."

Naruto blushed and I laughed.

"Don't believe me?" I giggled.

"Huh? Oh no…of course not!" Naruto chuckled. "I'm gonna be Hokage someday, believe it!"

I nodded and patted his shoulder. "Yup, you go Naruto."

Naruto grinned and then yawned. "Well I gotta go. I've got a lot of training to do before registration day."

I nodded and waved him off. When he rounded the corner, I turned myself, heading in the opposite direction. When I reached the corner something caught my eye and I turned quickly only to see Sasuke emerging from the Training grounds.

He looked up at me, those onyx eyes holding me in them for a few moments. Then he looked away and it felt like I could finally breathe again.

But I couldn't let him go.

"Sasuke." He had walked right past me, as if I wasn't there. He stopped, but didn't bother looking back at me. I swallowed, amazed that he and heard me when I had been sure I had sounded like nothing more than a whisper.

"Congrats on making it to the Chunin Exams."

Nothing.

"Daisuke will be happy to hear."

Still nothing. Above I could hear the scurrying of animals in the trees.

"Gaara too, I'm sure."

He glanced back and I offered a small smile.

"If you want…we could train together. I wouldn't mind showing you a few things. I could even throw in a little advice about Gaara too. I've seen him fight a few times, seen a bit of what he can do. It might not seem like much to me, but if you want to be prepared to fight him…I guess you'll look for any little piece of advice you can get huh?"

I had his attention. Even though he didn't show it, I had it. I could see the interest in his eyes, not at the training but at the information.

"But of course it's on my own terms." I smiled.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Terms?" He repeated.

I nodded. "Tomorrow meet me in the Training ground entrance at 9."

"For what?"

"You'll see. Depending how you fare, you'll get all that you want. If not…" I touched my chin. "Then I guess it's all on my terms."

…

He was early. It was hard to figure out just how early he had gotten there or how long he had been waiting. Stuffing my hands into the back pockets of my shorts, I nodded at him as I led the way into the training grounds.

"What are we doing anyway?" Sasuke asked when we reached a clearing.

"Test."

"Test?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna see if you're even worthy of me telling you anything at all."

"If I lose I still get the information?"

"Yes, of course, but I'll tell you when I'm good and ready. If you lose, you have to pay attention to everything I say and of course do things…that I want to do. When I ask you something you answer to the best of your ability. Hold nothing back, understood?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Sounds like a lot of terms."

I shrugged. "If you win. I'll tell you everything you want and if you still want me to help you, I'll do that too."

Sasuke sighed. "Alright…let's get this over with. What do I have to do?"

"Fight me." I said.

I had thrown him off. For a few seconds I could see surprise build up in his features. He hadn't expected that. He stared at me, probably holding his breath as he looked me over.

"Fight you."

"Yeah." I cocked my head to the side. "I can go and brag to Daisuke about how I fought you before he did."

His jaw clenched and he got over the stump I had thrown him off of. "Fine I'm not going to go easy on you though, hope you know that."

I smiled. "I'm not asking you to. Come at me with all you've got."

He smirked before disappearing. I stood there, waiting. I could sense him, hiding somewhere. I had to remember that this was a test. I wasn't going to hurt him, I was just going to win. Uchiha or not, he didn't know what the Obanji clan was capable of.

I could hear something getting closer, wind rushing. I opened my eyes and jumped to avoid incoming shuriken.

"Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

I spotted him, standing on a tree branch, the fire ball heading right toward me, getting bigger and bigger as it got closer and closer.

I made my hand signs and took a deep breath. "Water Style! Raging Waves!"

The stream of waterfall strengthened water poured out of my mouth, shooting right at the fireball. It put it out within seconds and slammed into the tree Sasuke had been standing on. Wiping my mouth I saw that Sasuke had long disappeared.

"Take this!" His fist sailed past my head thanks to my fast reflexes. I caught his arm, securing it over my shoulder as I bent over, swinging him over my shoulder. He landed on his two feet and then tried to swipe me off my feet. I jumped and then lifted a leg to kick him on the side of his face. He caught it and I landed on my back.

"Guess this means I win, huh?" Sasuke said, gripping my foot.

I smiled.

POOF!

"Huh?" Sasuke gasped and looked at his fist. A twig stood clenched between his fingers. He gripped it, tightened his grip and it snapped in half.

"Where'd you—"

I appeared above him, wrapping my legs around his neck, I caught him by surprise. He reached up, grabbing my knees as he struggled and I tightened my grip.

"Never get too happy." I said. "Never start thinking you've won until your opponent is on the ground unable to continue."

"H-h-how?!" Sasuke struggled.

"Easy. During your fireball attack I certainly wasn't going to risk anything. Clone, clearly."

Sasuke dropped to his knees and I released him. That's when I saw him trying to be sneaky. He reached into his kunai pouch and was in the process of pulling it out. So I let him. I let him pull it out and start to lift it. Then I kicked it out of his hand and kicked him down to, holding him to the ground with my foot on his chest.

"Sasuke Uchiha…you must be the king of sly moves." He grunted.

"But I win." I smiled. "You're down and I can guarantee that you don't get up."

I released him and he sat up quickly, coughing.

"Funny…I don't remember discussing what someone deemed as winning." He wiped his mouth. "You did say to keep on fighting until your opponent was out for good."

"I did." I said, balling my hands into tight fists.

"So I'm still capable of fighting!" He pushed himself up, heading right toward me. it was hand to hand combat for a few minutes. I dodged his strikes as he did mine. _It was the power of the Sharingan_, I couldn't help but think.

That was when his fist came out of nowhere, narrowly missing my cheek. I stumbled and that was all he needed to knock me right off my feet. I hit the ground and he smirked.

"Now to finish you." He started making hand signs and I narrowed my eyes.

"Not so fast." I growled, quickly making hand signs of my own.

"Fire Style!" Sasuke began as he inhaled a chestful of air.

"Earth Release!" I shouted. He paused, surprised once again.

"Earth Flow River!" I slammed my hands onto the round and within seconds everything the earth in front of my hands changed from hard to dirt to mud.

Sasuke gasped, stuck in the mud, struggling to free himself. I stood up and merely pushed him back, sending him toppling into the mud.

I burst out laughing, unable to do anything else but that. It was hilarious, watching him struggle against the thick mud.

"I win!" I cheered.

"No way!" Sasuke grunted, still struggling.

"The more you struggle the more stuck you get." I smiled, putting my hands on my hips.

He glared at me. "You're a water ninja, what are you doing using jutsu that control the earth?"

I stuck my tongue out at him as I continued to giggle. "My secret." He was fuming now, his cheeks red as he continued to struggle.

"I guess this means I win after all, right? You can't get out of that unless I call of the jutsu." I winked at him.

He just continued to grunt and struggle and I sighed.

"C'mon Uchiha, let hear you say it. It's kind of sad watching you throw your body around like that."

He glared at me again. "Fine you win!"

I smiled, dispelling the jutsu. He sat in the mud for a few more moments, rage seething under his calm expression, I could see it swimming in his eyes.

I knelt down in front of him, smiling softly. "Don't worry, you'll still get what you want, just not right away."

"And if I don't listen to your stupid terms?" Sasuke growled as he stood up.

I stood up, looking up at him. "You won't go back on your word."

"How do you know that?"

"You don't seem like the type." I said with a shrug. I looked him over, looking at the mud caked to his clothes. Shaking my head slowly, I extended my hand. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up."


	5. Chapter 5

****Hey guys! So I had a comment a few weeks ago about Sasuke OC (which I had to look up because I had no idea what that even meant), but the person said that Sasuke was basically not as "nice" as I was making him seem, so I just wanted to clarify something in response, in case someone else felt the same way. So yeah, maybe Sasuke is not that nice and feels like the world doesn't get him, but the view of him is coming from Miyuki who doesn't really see that, just a kid who seems to hate her, a kid she has to get to know, has to make like her for the sake of her mission. Anyway! Hope that clears it up kind of! I hope you all continue reading and please, please leave some comments and tell me what you think! I might not be doing so well with the characters because it's been a while since I've watched Naruto...so yeah...but hopefully you find the story itself interesting and I don't butcher the characters too much****

**Chapter 5: The Chunin Exams! Pt. 1**

"You're house…is pretty…" I looked around, trying to take it all in. in truth it was your standard one bedroom apartment, but it was the bareness and simplicity in it all that threw my off. No posters, no mess, no nothing. There were a few clothes clattered on the floor, the garbage can was overflowing and there were even a few dishes in the sink too, but it was clear by the way things smelled, all was done recently.

Sasuke stood by his bed, running a rag through his hair as he struggled to clean the rest of the mud from his hair. He glanced back at him, fresh out the shower with a pair of clean shorts and a black shirt on.

"You want to clean up too?" He said, his voice low.

I looked down at myself. I was a little dirty too, dirt caked not only between my toes, legs and hands, but also my clothes.

I hugged myself. "I'd love to but I don't have any clothes to change into."

His lip twitched and he walked over to his night stand. He pulled out a t-shirt and pair of shorts, tossing them in my direction. I caught them as he turned to face me, his eyes darker than ever.

"You keep fidgeting, like you're uncomfortable." He walked past me, sitting at his small table.

I flushed, not sure how to take it all. After his embarrassing loss, I had followed him home and practically invited myself in. I gave him my back as that realization hit me. How creepy was that? He probably thought I was a stalker now for sure? What had I even talked about on the way over here anyway? Had I been gloating? I sighed.

With a heavy sigh, I headed into the bathroom and cleaned up as best I could. I untied the two pigtails on my head, letting my hair cascade down my shoulders. Running my fingers through it, trying to get out all the tangles, I realized how long my hair had grown in the past few months. I remembered months ago how I had cut it to the middle of my back. Now it went past my back. Now it covered my back completely, almost at arm's length. I pulled it all hastily into a tight ponytail. I scrubbed the dirt from my body and then pulled on the clothes Sasuke had given me, hastily. I even rinsed the shower of all the dirt and by the time I emerged, I found him still sitting at the table, sipping tea.

He glanced at me.

Of course his shirt was a little big on my small frame. The shorts alone were baggy and stopped just below my knees. They weren't shorts, but pants. The shirt wasn't a shirt, it was a dress.

I sat down beside him on the table and he slid a cup of tea in my direction.

"Thanks." I smiled.

He said nothing, just continued sipping his tea.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

He looked at me. I smiled.

"Is this one of your terms?" Sasuke mumbled.

I folded my hands. "I just want to know if you're hungry, that's all."

"Why?"

"You let me use your shower and borrow your clothes. I have to thank you for all of that, you know?" I tried to be as cheerful as possible. But of course, it had no effect on his impossible face and that impossible straight stare.

I stood up and walked into his kitchen, touching the pantry door. "Do you mind?"

He shrugged and I started opening all the cabinets.

"Not much options here…do you not eat or something?" I called to him.

"Hmph…" Was his response and I fought back a sigh.

"Your eyes are pretty good, you know?" I called to him as I picked up a box of rice. "Is it because of your Sharingan?"

"Did your precious teammate tell you about that?"

I smiled, poking my head out from the kitchen. "I'm pretty sure he could write a book with how far his obsession has taken him, but no. I've always known. The Uchiha clan…they're famous in a sense back home."

"Famous?"  
Sasuke repeated, standing up as I set the rice on the counter, continuing to dig through the cabinets.

"Yes." I said looking as he leaned against the door frame, his eyes following me around the room.

"My village's Priestess, her line goes back to the founding days of the Leaf Village. I don't know the whole story, but she was close to the Uchiha clan, that's all I know." I looked at him. "How do rice balls sound to you?"

Sasuke shrugged again.

"You don't have many options…you really need to go grocery shopping or something." I said as I got ready to make rice balls with the ingredients I had gathered. My face brightened and I turned to face Sasuke. "I have a great idea! I could totally cook for you one day! I know how to make a lot of stuff, so you can name anything you want and I'll make it for you!"

"I'm fine." Sasuke muttered.

"I don't mind if that's the problem. I like to cook." I smiled. "If you don't know what you want, I can surprise you. Hideki and Daisuke love my cooking and they like everything, even if it's stuff they don't usually eat."

I handed him a finished rice ball and slowly, he took it from my outstretched hand.

Glancing his way, I watched as he took a bite out of the rice ball and blushed as soon as it landed on his tongue.

"Good?" I giggled.

He looked away, chewing slowly.

"I can make stews, like any stew in the book! I can cook some barbeque too if you like that better. Fish! I love making fish too!" I blabbed on and on, handing him another rice ball somewhere between it all.

When I was done making a dozen of them, I cleaned my hands and looked at him. He was still eating them slowly, as if he was savoring the flavor.

"Do you like them? Or are you just really hungry you don't even care?" I said, feeling oddly hurt if it was the second option. It wasn't like I was trying to buy him with my food, but it was one way to get close to him and that was my job. I had to get in…he had to let me in…he didn't have a choice because I could easily become his stalker if that was the case.

"It's…good." Sasuke said finally, after he downed his second rice ball.

I grinned. "That's awesome to hear!"

That was how it began. That day we talked and talked, well I did more of the talking while he absently listened to everything I said. When I left, I told him I'd be back the next day, he didn't protest. So I came back the next day and the next day, always bringing a new recipe to try out. Sometimes he'd help me. Other times he'd lean on that doorframe watching me move around the kitchen, cutting up vegetable after vegetable, pr even making the plates as full as possible.

It went on for weeks, the two of us in his apartment. Sometimes he'd speak up, give a comment or two, but other than that he was silent. But I didn't mind. I was close to him, I was watching him and it felt good…it felt good talking to someone other than my teammates.

Daisuke and Hideki never questioned where I went for hours at a time. They were too busy training for the exams even though Megumi-sensei said we wouldn't need it. Sometimes I even helped Sasuke train or I'd come by to just watch him. If he minded, he never said anything. So I kept coming, kept talking, and kept cooking.

But it wasn't every day, though every time we were together it felt like we had been that way for an eternity. By the time the Chunin Exams rolled around, we had started seeing less and less of each other, because our teammates wanted to practice together. The day exam number one was going to be proctored, my teammates and I were sitting in the room, waiting for the exams proctor to arrive in a crowd of people.

"Sasuke!" A girl squealed. I turned around and spotted them, Naruto and his team. There was a blonde girl hugging Sasuke from behind and I could see Sakura fuming.

'Ino-Pig!" She growled.

"Well if it isn't forehead!" The blonde girl smiled devilishly.

"They're pretty loud." Hideki muttered.

"We were worse." I giggled, turning away.

"I'm still happy Uchiha's here." Daisuke smiled.

"So you keep reminding us." Hideki sighed.

"A bunch of chumps here I say, right Sasuke. No one comes as close to you and me." A boy bragged from where they all stood.

"Rookies." Hideki grunted. "All of them."

"Is that Lee?" Daisuke said, squinting.

I followed his gaze. Bowl-styled haircut and gaudy green jumpsuit. Yup. There was no doubt.

"Rock Lee." I smiled. "Neji Hyuuga. Tenten, too."

'Things are seriously getting interesting." Daisuke grinned, cracking his knuckles.

"Do you guys mind? You're a bit loud, if you haven't noticed."

The voice made my insides tighten. I swung around, my eyes searching for it. It was a boy, no more than a year older than all of us. He was tall and lean and wore a purple outfit. He had gray hair tied back into a loose ponytail and wore glasses. He seemed friendly enough, but there was something about him, something about that smile.

"He gives me a bad vibe." I growled, just as someone stepped behind me.

"Hey there." I swung around again and looked up at Village of the Rain ninja.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Daisuke yawned.

"I'm talking to the lady not you." The ninja said. He seemed sleazy enough and he grabbed my wrist, pulling me closer to him.

"You messed with the wrong one, dude." Daisuke said.

"His funeral." Hideki said, folding his arms.

"I'm gonna give you five seconds to let me go." I growled.

"Whoa! Whoa! No need for hostility, babe."

"Oh man…here she goes." Daisuke chuckled.

"Five." I began my count.

"Let her go." Hideki said.

"Or what?" The Rain ninja's teammates suddenly speared behind him, just as tall and menacing as their sleazy partner.

"What are you gonna do?" One of them asked.

"Not us." Daisuke said.

"Four." I growled.

"I don't get involved in these fights. I might get caught in the aftermath."

"Three."

"I just want to know your name, is that so hard?" The Rain ninja said, putting his hand on my waist.

"He must not value his hands." Hideki smirked.

"Huh? Hey is that? Miyuki!?" Naruto's voice boomed from above, which alerted the Rain ninja's attention.

"Two…"

"Hey it is! Hey! But wait! Hey Miyuki! What's happening? Who is that guy!?" Naruto shouted, sounding ready to jump over to me.

"Stay out of it, Naruto." Daisuke called.

"She's a big girl, she can handle herself." Hideki added.

"One." It was a surprise. I brought up my knee, hitting the ninja right in the groin. He bent over, howling in pain as I reached for his hand and jumped up. Holding his arm steady, I wrapped my legs around the guy's neck, similar to what I had done to Sasuke and back-flipped.

"N-no…no way!" Naruto gasped.

"Who is that girl!?" I heard the blonde girl gasp.

The Rain ninja, landed face first in the ground and, digging my knee into the side of his face, I pulled both of his arms behind his back.

"You bit—!"

I twisted one of his wrists and he screamed out in pain. His teammates started to move and Daisuke and Hideki blocked them.

"Didn't you mother teach you that potty mouths don't help you in situations like these?" I growled. "Touch me again and I'll rip off your arm."

He was crying for me to let him go and I did, pushing off of him harshly and glaring up at his teammates.

"Anyone care to avenge him?"

"Tch…I doubt anybody wants to touch you now." Daisuke chuckled as he stretched.

I swung around, seeing something shoot through the crowd. Pulling out a kunai, I followed the speeding bodies as they jumped onto the platform where Naruto and his friends stood.

"Kabuto!" I heard Sakura cry out.

The boy with the unsettling voice was on his knees, puking his brains out because of a swipe a metal armed Sound ninja had done.

"Sound Village?" Daisuke repeated.

Then there was an explosion in the front of the room, that called for everyone's attention. That was also the moment where the Rain ninja with the broken wrist decided to jump for me again. It was also when as our proctor appeared in the cloud of smoke, my foot went smack against the Rain ninja's face. Blood spewed out from his now broken nose and quickly pulled him into a head lock.

"Water ninja! Sound ninja! Rain ninja! That's enough!" Ibiki called from the front of the room. He closed in on me. "Miyuki, drop him."

"Yeah Miyuki…drop him because he bursts into tears." Daisuke laughed.

"Shut up." Hideki grunted as he shoved Daisuke slightly.

"Just teaching him how to keep his hands to himself, sir." I said as I released the Rain ninja and stepped back.

"Can't tell you how many times you've taught that lesson." Daisuke cackled.

"Idiot." Hideki growled. 'Must have taken more stupid pills than ever this morning."

"I'm on a roll, Hideki!" Daisuke continued to cackle.

"Only in your mind." Neji called.

"What you say Hyuuga!?" Daisuke said, quickly changing up his tune.

"Hey! All of you! Find a seat! It's time for the Chunin Exams to officially begin!" Ibiki shouted from the front. "You have one minute to find your designated seat in this room and if you don't find it, I will personally kick you out thus ruining any chance you had in representing your village in this year's Chunin Exams."

"Stupid Neji." Daisuke grumbled.

The Rain ninja raced to their groaning teammate's side while others around us cackled.

"Let's find our seats." Hideki said. "We can't afford to be kicked out now."

What followed was Ibiki's written exam. The questions were of course impossible, but my team and I knew better than to even bother with them. The thing about the test was that the questions were supposed to be utterly impossible to answer. Ibiki got everyone scared saying if all three didn't pass the test, the entire squad would fail, never seeing the light of Chuunin life ever. But it was a lie. Making people lose their mind, making them fearful, it was Ibiki's job. So I sat there, staring straight ahead, right at the chalkboard while everyone started to panic around me. A few got right to work, scribbling on their papers furiously and others, like Naruto seemed to be shaking as they looked through the questions. I could see Daisuke anxious, glaring at the back of Naruto's head, probably hoping the same thing in was.

_C'mon Naruto, get it together_, I thought. I prayed he wouldn't raise his hand, prayed he wouldn't crack. _You've come so far_.

Even though a part of me doubted he would ever give up, I couldn't be so sure. Naruto was literally shaking and it was enough to make me worry. I lifted my thumb to my mouth, chewing on the nail. Why was I so nervous? The three of them could just reapply for the position later on, after they learned Ibiki was telling a lie of course.

But as Hideki dozed off on top of his test and Daisuke covered his eyes to keep from yelling at Naruto the point of the test, I started reading over the questions, losing myself as I started thinking about Sasuke.

He was seated somewhere behind me, I knew that. Looking back would probably force my team to be eliminated and that would make Daisuke flip, not to mention Megumi as well.

So I sat. And sat. And waited. Until it was over. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but it was sad looking around the room and seeing that nearly half of the Genin had chickened out. I glanced back as Naruto cheered and Daisuke nearly cried only to find that Sasuke was watching me. I smiled and gave him a thumbs up, unsure what else to do as I turned back around.

So Team 7 had made it and so had we. But little did they know as Anko Mitarashi appeared in the front of the room that the exams were just getting started.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Chuunin Exams Pt. 2!**

"The Forest of Death." Daisuke grinned. "Things are gonna get interesting now."

"We go in there, get the scroll first thing." I said.

"Of course." Hideki said. "We should probably stay close to Uchiha, just in case Orochimaru gets in the way."

"Not a problem." Daisuke shrugged. "I was actually gonna say the same thing."

I nodded, folding my arms across my chest as Naruto and his team approached us.

"Miyuki, hey!" Sakura grinned.

"Hey guys! See you made it to the second round." Naruto smiled. "All set for the forest?"

Anko had long explained the second exam and how it was all about survival she took great joy in watching a few Genin turn green as she described the madness that lived hind the walls while all Daisuke did was roll his eyes. We had broken her meeting so that we could all get our scrolls.

"Of course. I can't wait to smash a few faces in." Daisuke grinned.

Naruto laughed.

"Good luck you guys." I smiled.

"Not that you'll need it." Daisuke grinned.

"Of course! We're gonna get through this test too! Easy, breezy! Believe it!" Naruto beamed.

"Someone's confident." Hideki said.

"You guys don't seem too worried either." Sakura observed.

"Yeah, it's nothing we haven't handled before." Daisuke said with a wave.

"Yeah, you've had an A rank mission." Sasuke said.

Hideki's brow rose. "How'd you know that?"

Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets, a small smirk on his face. "I have my sources."

"Card guy?" Daisuke said, his expression dark.

"What's his name by the way? You guys all seemed pretty buddy-buddy with him." I said.

"Buddy-buddy!?" Sakura laughed, shaking her head. "Kabuto is…nice. But I don't think he's our friend. Just ally, maybe."

"Kabuto?" I mumbled.

"He's a Leaf shinobi." Hideki said. "He's taken these exams before."

"Yeah he has a bunch of times." Naruto said.

"Hmph…sounds like he and his cards should mind their own business." Daisuke growled.

"Alright maggots! Everyone find a gate and stand by it. Once the gate opens, you can head inside on my signal!" Anko shouted.

"Guess that's our cue." Hideki said. "Let's go you two."

"Oh and we promise not to fight you three until the finals." Daisuke grinned. "So you better make it to the next round."

"Of course! Believe it!" Naruto grinned.

Sakura waved as we walked away, heading toward one of the gates.

"Hmph…Kabuto, huh?" Hideki growled.

"What's up?" I asked.

"That guy…his cards…enough to piss you off, right?" Daisuke said.

"He just walked up to them, as if everyone in that room is the friendliest person. He's taken the exam before so he should know by now making friends…it's pointless. Everyone's here to win." Hideki said.

"What are you saying?" I said.

"Ulterior motives?" Daisuke said.

"Yeah…I think so." Hideki said. "We should watch him too."

"You don't think he's working for…you know." I leaned closer. "Orochimaru?"

"No…hope not. If anything he looks pretty easy to take down. We can end him here if anything I guess." Hideki said.

"Give him time." Daisuke said. "It would be interesting to see what he does. What if we kill him and he's not, you know?"

We stood by a gate and I stretched.

"I hope we don't regret that decision." I said.

"We won't." Daisuke said.

"If not I won't have a problem taking him down. I'll take the responsibility." Hideki said.

"'I'll finish it if you can't handle him." Daisuke grinned.

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Hideki said as the gates creaked open. "Besides, I never need help finishing something I started."

"Alright, just offering you a hand. Don't say I never help you." Daisuke shrugged.

I giggled as Anko gave the mark and we darted inside, not wasting anytime.

"We gotta find them." I said as we jumped from tree branch to tree branch.

"Yeah, but scroll first." Daisuke said.

'Miyuki, keep an eye on them. You've seen Neji's ability before." Hideki called.

I nodded, closing my eyes. "Byakugan!" As I opened them, I could feel the veins rise up around my eyes, I could see my eyes change color, changing from their dark purple color to a light pastel color overall, pupils dilated, but focused and small and perfectly blended in with the pastel color.

"They stopped." I reported.

"Why?" Daisuke called.

"As if I could hear…oh wait Naruto's heading to a bush." I said and then made a face. "Oh Naruto, no. Sakura just hit him."

"He had to pee." Daisuke chuckled. "Little moron was asking for it."

"Huh? Oh no! Naru—" Something caught my attention from above and I whipped my head up, and saw black drops falling from the sky.

"Scatter!" Hideki growled, seeing the attack before I had the chance to speak up. We scattered indeed but the black rain, the black flammable oil drops landed onus anyway.

I squeezed my eyes shut as the Byakugan retreated from my eyes, leaving me with my palms pressed up against my eyes as a quick blinding pain filled my eyes. The strain from the already strenuous jutsu never failed to get me every time and it only got worse since I barely used it.

"Aww man you missed, Rizo." A female voice whined.

"I didn't miss they just decided to spread out." A boy, probably Rizo growled.

"Well scatter and find them!" Another boy with a powerful voice growled. "And when you find them, hit them with fire, but not before seeing if they have a scroll."

"What kind of team just openly discusses their plans right in front of us, huh?" I opened my eyes, as I realized that last voice was Daisuke. I was crouched behind a bush and judging from the proximity of the voices, I wasn't far from them. Daisuke's voice was high up, in a tree, probably right across from them.

"There's one right there!" Rizo growled.

"Idiots." Daisuke said. "Ninja Art! Hidden Mist Jutsu!" The mist set in quickly, before the three enemy ninja had a chance to fire off an attack.

"Huh?! What is this?!" The female voice whined.

"Hide!" The leader snapped.

"So you can use water jutsu but can't recognize one when it's used against you?" Hideki's voice sounded.

"You three morons made us having to look for a scroll easy. You brought the scroll to us." Daisuke grinned.

"We didn't bring you anything!" Rizo growled.

I moved. I could make them out in the thick fog, but the reason was because in our village training in the mist something we did on a daily basis. If you couldn't see through the mist, you couldn't be deemed a worthy ninja.

I made hand signs, just as the three ninja faced me. "Water Style: Ripping Torrent!" Holding out my hand water from the a canteen I always had tied around my waist, mixed with the moisture in the air, started to spiral quickly in my hand, growing and getting faster and faster. It then shot forward, ramming into the enemy ninja. As the ninja went flying back, Dasiduke made the fog lessen so we could see them hit the ground.

"You messed with the wrong Genin." Hideki observed from a nearby branch. Daisuke reached into his kunai pocket and threw down kunai at the ninja, but pinned them to the ground instead of striking them.

The three ninja, even the powerful leader stood shivering below, their eyes wide as they stared up at us.

"You interrupted a super important moment for us." Daisuke said, jumping down to the ground. "Hope you know that."

"Take it easy on them." Hideki said as he appeared beside him. "So which one of you has it, don't make us have to go and find it the hard way."

"H-has wh-what man?" The leader's voice cracked.

"The scroll." I said. "Hand it over. Don't make us ask twice."

"Ouch, Miyuki." Daisuke grinned. I glared at him.

"Don't you wanna check on your precious Uchiha?" I was anxious, I wasn't going to lie. The one thing I feared most was Orochimaru attacking Naruto and his group. Though they had faced Zabuza, they would never make it with Orochimaru and if they did it would leave them scarred for life.

Daisuke nodded. "The girl."

Hideki held out his hand and the girl slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out a Heaven scroll. Hideki grabbed it and as the girl pressed her hand to her chest, her eyes quivering.

"Let's go." Daisuke said.

I didn't wait for them. I didn't wait for any of them. I just took off, running as fast as I could to Naruto and his group. That was when I felt a hand on my shoulder and I swung around, lifting a fist.

"Whoa, hold on, take it easy." It was Hideki. He had retracted his hand from my shoulder and now had both his hands up, waving them in the air.

"What?" I asked, irritated.

"Slow down." Daisuke growled. "What if they can handle it?"

"We're not their babysitters after all." Hideki said.

"What if it's Orochimaru?" I growled.

"What if it is? They won't win the fight but they can stand him for a few moments. We should let it play out, find out what his intentions are." Hideki said.

"Exactly. We might be able to get some information out of him." Daisuke added.

"He wants Sasuke." I growled. "We know that much. He's our priority right now."

"True, but he has to want something else other than that. He's just gonna take Uchiha and his power and do what with it? He's not gonna walk off bragging about it, he's gonna show it to the world." Daisuke said.

"Well we should help prevent it before it gets to that!" I snapped.

"Miyuki! You're not getting it!" Daisuke snapped right back.

"Enough you two." Hideki growled, putting a hand between us. "Fighting won't solve anything."

"Then why are we still standing here?" I groaned. "It's aggravating."

"Because—" A shadow rose above us and we swung around, eyes wide as three snakes rose to the tops of the high trees, their pink tongues slithering out from their mouth, their eyes dark and evil.

"Or he could be watching us." Daisuke swallowed as one of the snakes threw its body in our direction. We jumped out of the way as it shattered the branch we had been standing on and I barely caught my breath as I landed on a tree trunk, focusing my chakra to my feet so I could stick.

"Where did that thing even come from?!" Daisuke shrieked.

"Orochimaru! He's close! He had to have heard us!" Hideki growled as another snake went toppling in his direction.

"Are you sure these ugly things aren't one of the forest monsters Anko was jabbering about?" Daisuke called as pulled out a few kunai and launched them at one of the snakes' heads. It hissed in pain and threw its body at a lightning speed in his direction.

That's when I felt it. A sharp and fiery pain shot up from my neck and I gasped, the feel of it making my knees weak. It was also when the third snake headed for me. All I could do was drop to me knees, the pain on my neck paralyzing me.

"Miyuki!" Daisuke called to me.

The snake was less than a few feet away from me and closing in fast, but Daisuke appeared seemingly out of nowhere and scooped me up into his arms. We barely made it out of the path of the third snake but thankfully somewhere between us free falling from the top of the tree, I recovered. I jumped out of Daisuke's arms and we separated, landing on opposite trees while Hideki struggled to fight off his snake.

"This is going to be a pain in the ass." Daisuke growled under his breath as he started to make hand signs.

"Fire Style! Fire Ball Jutsu!" The snake pushed through his attack and we both had to jump out of the way as the snake rammed into both of our trees. I pulled out a kunai and pushed it through one of the eyes of the snake that had tried to eat me before. It thrashed around, hissing wildly and I lost my grip. I jumped to a nearby tree and landed so awkwardly that I could barely pull myself up.

"This isn't working." Hideki growled. "Fire Release! Flame Bull—" I whipped my head around and watched Hideki grip the side of his neck, falling to his knees. My eyes widened as the snake he had been fighting loomed over him and the minute he dropped swallowed him up.

"HIDEKI!" Daisuke shouted as he threw a kunai. It latched onto the snake, but it didn't seem to have much of a reaction.

"No!" I screamed as I finally pulled myself onto my branch only to have the snake that had tried eating me to swing its massive head in front of me blocking my view of my teammates.

"Move out of my way you stupid, spineless beast!" I growled, throwing a series of both shuriken and kunai at the snake.

"Oh Miyuki…"

My eyes widened. That voice. It never failed to send chills up my spine. There was a slight tingling in my neck as the snake in front of me developed a small lump that grew bigger and at the center of its forehead. It got bigger and bigger until it started to look like something was going to come bursting from the snake's skin and that was when it broke. Slimy and sleek that's what it was. Something slimy, sleek. It rose tall, it's long mane of dark, coal black hair, covering its face until it tilted its head back.

I swallowed, frozen.

"So good to see you…" Orochimaru said. A long tongue protruded from his mouth as he licked his lips and I shivered.

"Were you…expecting me?" Orochimaru asked. My eyes scanned his long face and I then grazed over his eyes, which was my biggest mistake. The minute I realized what I had done, it was too late. My eyes quickly focused on his chin, but it was already done and starting.

I was lost in the vision. There I stood one second and the next Orochimaru was in front of me, piercing a sword through my chest. I gagged, tasting blood in my mouth as I bent over and emptied the contents of my stomach while Orochimaru laughed.

"You Water ninja…I knew you were bothersome before, but…you're proving just how annoying you can be." Orochimaru said, his voice calm and slow. "I guess this is what I get for not killing you three back then…"

"Get away from her!" Daisuke growled from somewhere behind us.

"Oh Daisuke…so impatient…" Orochimaru looked over his shoulder and I heard Daisuke cry out in pain, probably from the pain on his neck.

"I'll get to you once I'm done with Miyuki…" Orochimaru said. He reached out, cupping my chin in his hand and titled my head up toward him.

It was double the paralysis and if I couldn't move before, I would be frozen in place for a while now.

"I've come with a proposition." Orochimaru smiled. "I know why you three are here and I'll promise your safety if you join me."

"Like…hell we…like hell we will." I growled.

Orochimaru chuckled darkly. "You can join me and help me take down the Leaf Village, help me end them once and for all…"

"N-no." I managed.

"Miyuki…I'm hurt! We used to do everything together…don't you remember?" Orochimaru said, sliding his hand around to my neck, his fingers brushing over my now aching Curse Mark.

"I even gave you a little memento of our time together…you handled it so much better than the others, don't you remember?" Orochimaru said, leaning down close to my ear.

Silent tears started to form in my eyes. I wanted desperately to hit him, to strike him down in some way. But I couldn't. All I could do was sit there and take it, my body limp, the emotions in my chest bubbling.

That was when the snake that had eaten Hideki imploded. Orochimaru released me instantly, his entire upper half twisting back to see as Hideki stood among the remains of the snake.

"Hideki…what a surprise…" Orochimaru said as he glanced back at me.

"Get away from her!" Hideki snapped.

"Miyuki…my darling Miyuki…Sasuke…Sasuke boy…you don't see it do you?"

Hideki started toward us.

"You don't see the darkness in him…the thirst he has…the thirst he has for power…"

Hideki pulled out a kunai and jumped.

"He'll do anything for it…he'll do anything as long as it means he'll be one step closer to fighting him…" He looked up at incoming Hideki and put his hand in his mouth.

"Wind Release! Great Breakthrough!" He blew a large blast of wind that hit Hideki directly and sent him tumbling back until his body poofed into a cloud of smoke.

Orochimaru turned around just as Hideki appeared gripping a kunai in his hand. He was raising it, about to strike Orochimaru until he dropped to his knees once again.

"They sealed my mark…" Orochimaru said as he reached out and placed a hand onto Hideki's neck. "Trying to stop the flow of all that brilliant power…my brilliant power…"

Hideki screamed out in pain as he dropped to the ground, his body trembling as he gripped his neck.

"Hideki!" I cried, tears running down my cheeks.

Daisuke appeared suddenly, on the other side of Orochimaru, but something shot out from his back, startling Daisuke mid-air. When Orochimaru's hand slapped against, Daisuke went limp, his eyes wide. When the seal was broken he screamed again as the markings, resembling a burning fire, started to slip out from the mark, covering nearly his entire body. He started to fall and that was when I told myself I had to move. I willed my hand to move, lifting it up and bringing it to my mouth.

When Orochimaru turned back to face me, I was biting down on my flesh. As the blood fell, he slapped a hand against my neck just as the paralysis started to fade.

The pain started just as I pushed off the tree branch, grabbing Daisuke with one hand and pushing a kunai into a tree with the other. But then the pain reached its maximum and I could feel the mark spreading across my body. I was on fire, I had to be. That's what it felt like at least from the inside. I gasped, Daisuke slipping from my fingers, my grip on the kunai loosening.

"Uchiha will come for me. You'll all see. His thirst for power…it's so great…he'll do anything…he'll do anything to get it." Orochimaru's voice filled the area as Daisuke and I hit the ground.

"And once he gets what he wants…he doesn't care what happens to him after that…"


End file.
